Joel 3:15

"The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.

Such terminology as this is used in Revelation 6:12:17, following the pattern throughout the Bible in references to the judgment of the Final Day. We do not pretend to know what this means; but it would appear to be certain that cosmic disturbances of the very greatest magnitude will attend God's final arraignment and judgment of the prince of his creation, namely, man.

That the final day is always considered "near" (Joel 3:14) by the inspired authors appears to derive from two things:

(1) in the sense of recurring judgments upon the incorrigibly wicked, as seen in so many historical examples, notably the destruction of Jerusalem, that day in its immediate application and impending sense is indeed always near, always impending and threatening to occur at any time;

(2) all such lesser judgments are likewise omens or tokens of the great and final event that shall consummate all things and usher in the new heaven and the new earth.

Furthermore, this ultimate and final event is uncertain as to the time. Not even Christ in the limitation of his flesh knew when it would be; and, therefore, the thoughtful of every generation have received it in the words of the prophets as "near at hand." There is a sense, too, in which it is indeed "near" to every generation; because, for all practical purposes, the day of death for every man may be equated with the day of judgment as far as it pertains to him.